


Lay Your Worries Down

by ishie



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-30
Updated: 2009-09-30
Packaged: 2017-11-15 22:49:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/532645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishie/pseuds/ishie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teyla's first glimpse of her team's homeworld was of bright golden lights and dark hulking buildings streaking past the tinted windows of their ground transport.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lay Your Worries Down

**Author's Note:**

> Written for sara_wolf, in the [2009 Fall Fandom Free-for-all](http://oxoniensis.livejournal.com/422866.html), for the prompt: "SGA: Rodney/Teyla, earthside, living together"
> 
> Spoilerish for 1x09 _Home_ : in this, Teyla travels to Earth with McKay instead of Sheppard. ~~Because they're doing it!~~ Unrelated to the universe of _In the Hollow Tree_. Title from Eric Clapton's _Lay Down Sally_.

Teyla's first glimpse of her team's homeworld was of bright golden lights and dark hulking buildings streaking past the tinted windows of their ground transport. Beside her, Rodney's face shone blue in the light of his laptop as he muttered over whatever he was reading.

The driver looked at her through the mirror and said, "We'll be there in just a few minutes, ma'am."

She still wasn't clear on where _there_ was. After a lengthy and uncomfortable interview with several men in uniform, she had been unceremoniously bundled out to this vehicle and ushered inside. When Rodney joined her, he had only said, "I hope that woman hasn't done anything to my cat."

That woman, she knew, was his nearest neighbor. The cat, an animal that resembled the small predators she had encountered on Byalla's world, was his pet, one he regretted having left behind. She presumed that they were going to Rodney's dwelling but for some reason felt a curious reluctance to question him. Their vehicle careened around a corner, to a cacophony of discordant noise, and Rodney closed his laptop with a huff.

"It would be just my luck to survive the Wraith and die in a horrible, fiery wreck my first night back here," he muttered before calling out to their driver. "Hey! You need to make a left up here."

\---

Rodney's dwelling was more cluttered than she'd expected. His quarters on Atlantis were austere by comparison, and even there she had thought it amazing how much he had managed to fit into the narrow space. He gave her a short tour of his rooms, pointing out technologies that were familiar - like his personal computer, a boxy television set, and a stereo much like the one in the Marines' off-duty lounge.

"Bathroom's there," he said, pointing down a short hallway. "Bedroom's through this door. Towels and stuff are in this closet." He pulled the door open and had to quickly shove it closed again when a large stack of magazines and books came tumbling out. "Right, forgot about that. Okay, just use whatever's in the bathroom and I'll get this cleared out sometime."

He turned and headed back to the kitchen while Teyla took a moment to peek into his bedroom. She didn't know how long he had had to prepare for his journey to her galaxy. But it had plainly been enough time to give his rooms a cursory cleaning and to purge whatever materials would not have survived his absence.

His bed was large and inviting, sitting high off the floor and piled with blankets and pillows. Teyla longed to crawl into all that softness and pull the covers over her head in the hopes that the dawning of a new day would restore her equanimity.

"They could have at least gotten us some food," Rodney grumbled when she joined him in the kitchen. "I'll order pizza. Pepperoni okay?"

Her stomach turned uneasily, thinking of the heavy, greasy equivalent the commissary had served every eighth day on Atlantis. John had advised her that the "real deal" was more palatable but she had her doubts.

In any case, her trepidation didn't matter; Rodney hadn't waited for her reply. He was already on his bulky handheld communicator before she could voice her objection, complaining about something he called Automated Hell.

\---

When they had finished their meal, Rodney went to pound on his neighbor's door again. Teyla did not follow this time. Her portion of the pizza sat heavy like a stone in her stomach along with the small wilted salad Rodney - thoughtfully, surprisingly - had ordered for her. From where she was curled around herself on his sofa, she could hear his rumbling voice as he spoke to his cat through the door across the hall.

The woman who had the care of the animal in Rodney's absence had still not arrived home for the evening. Teyla feared that they would be hearing its strange and plaintive cries through the wooden panels until the morning.

Rodney stormed back in through the door in a whirlwind of swinging arms and curses. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted her! She's had it in for me ever since that, that _thing_ in the laundry room," he fumed, picking up another slice of the now-cold greasy pizza and shoving it in his mouth.

Teyla watched him pace back and forth. She couldn't summon the energy to defend the woman or to point out that there was no way she could have known he would be home tonight. Exhaustion dragged at her limbs; the initial sense of unease that she felt had intensified ten-fold since they had stepped into the gate room from M5S-224. It was not an unfamiliar feeling - it rippled along her spine whenever she set foot on a new and unknown world but was usually gone long before she found her bearings there. This time was different. Instead of allowing herself to relax into curiosity about the homeworld of her friends and the luxury of Rodney's rooms, she found with every moment that she grew more tense and irritable. She felt as though there was something wrong, but everything here was so alien to her that she could not pinpoint the cause.

\---

There had been no time to pack, nor to venture out into any of this world's trading districts. Because she had no sleeping garments, Rodney gave her one of the soft, faded t-shirts crowded into his clothing chest. It fell almost to her knees, a faint hint of some floral scent still clinging to the fabric. It covered nearly as much skin as one of her training costumes but she felt awkward and exposed when she stepped into his bedroom.

They had been intimate for only a few short weeks. She still had not traveled to the mainland to announce her intentions to the mothers and she felt the absence of their blessing in the tight muscles of her neck and shoulders.

Rodney was stretched out across the bed under the heavy blankets, a pillow wedged between his head and one outstretched arm. He stirred when she pulled the blanket aside and lay down beside him.

"Screw Command. Tomorrow we'll go get you some clothes," he mumbled, half of his mouth obscured by the pillow. "Maybe take a couple of days so you can see the city since the Daedalus won't be ready for a while."

Teyla fumbled to switch off the bedside lamp. In the darkness that rushed into the room, she curled closer to him. He freed the hand trapped under the weight of his body and patted her hip. His touch was heavy and clumsy with sleep. She drew comfort from the warmth radiating from his flesh to hers. It did little to lift the uneasiness she still carried but the muscles of her neck and upper back slowly began to unknot as his touch slackened.

She spoke for the first time since leaving the mountain, her words filling the silence now that his had finally stopped. "I would like that very much, Rodney."

As she slipped into slumber, she heard him whisper, "Thank you for coming with me," and she smiled.


End file.
